Harry And The Shipgirls: Prisoner of Shipping (A HP/KanColle Snippet Collection)

[Harry Leferts]

"Get. Away. From. My. Daughter. Now."

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Oh... Goddamit.

Thats good - i was afraid that another Taylor had snuck in secretly.

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Not this time.

Now is the time for Claire to make a quick remark of 'Okay, sliding away from your daughter.' Might leave Columbe slightly stunned for a moment.

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That... could actually work.

 

[Harry Leferts]

A soft smile on his face, Harry bowed towards the Arashi gathered before him, "Thank you for having us over."

Chuckling, Yukina shook her head before bowing back, "It was no trouble for us, Harry-Kun. And we enjoyed having you visit and getting to know you, though..." Sighing, she shrugged some as she continued to shake her head, "Three days does not seem enough to do so as well as we should to be quite honest."

Unsure, Harry rubbed the back of his neck in a way that reminded those there of Ian, "Well, um... maybe I can visit in the future? Or you can visit me? Not like this has to be the only time"

Simply walking forward, he was surprised when Tsubaki hugged him, "I speak for all of us when I say that either would be fine with us. More than that, we would love it." Getting a hug in return, she smiled at him, "And know that, no matter what, you are always welcome here. You need only ask and we would love to have you stay for a time.

When she pulled back after a few more moments of the two hugging, he could see the others nodding and smiling in agreement. Lightly blushing as he was somewhat overwhelmed by it, Harry bowed again in thanks. Then he was surprised when Koyuki walked out with a box that she handed him, "Here, this is from all of us."

Looking at her, Harry opened the box and his eyes widened some at the expanded inside. From what he could see, there was various containers of cream as well as different cheeses. Awed, he looked up at her, "I..."

In reply, she winked a bit, "You need all the calcium that you can get to grow nice and big." With one hand, Koyuki ruffled his hair playfully, "So you should enjoy that." Giggling, she hugged him, which he returned, before pulling back, "Now, you take good care of yourself, Itoko. Same with your family."

Eyes wet, Harry only nodded with a bright smile before glancing at Nagato and the others. Turning back, he smiled, "Hai, you can count on me."

The next few minutes was of several other hugs and the like as the Arashis said their own goodbyes. Once that was done, Harry gave a final wave as he got back into Nagato's car and it drove off. Watching as the car disappeared down the road, Yukina let out a sigh which made Tsubaki giggle a bit. At seeing the look directed at her, the Hone-Onna shrugged, "You miss him already, don't you?"

One eyebrow raised, Yukina snorted some, "Of course, after all we are in a way his Obaa-Sans. Though he will be back, and that is a day that I am looking forward to."

Hands behind her head, Koyuki smiled and shook her head, "Same here, because if he comes during the summer then we can go off road and everything."

Giggles though made her turn to where Chiho was who only grinned, "I am looking forward to seeing the girls that he's gathering like Ian-Kun did ourselves according to what Nagato-San told us. After all, as his Obaa-Sans, we need to make sure that they are good for him."

Clapping a hand to her forehead, Tsubaki let out a laugh of her own, "Oh yes! He is most definitely Ian-Kun's and Lyra-Chan's descendant!"

With one final look, the clan turned back towards the compound as their conversations went in various directions.

Meanwhile, in the car, Hoppou held out a Kleenex with a frown, "Here you go, Big Brother! So that you don't sneeze all over Hoppou!"

Frowning, Harry took it before blowing his nose, "Ugh, hope that I am not coming down with a cold or anything."

Nagato glanced at him in the rear-view mirror, "You are not the only one, Harry. Especially with Operation Witching Hour within a day or so."

Still frowning, the wizard shrugged a bit, "Hopefully." He then perked up a bit, "By the way, Mum? Did you talk with Teitoku about what I found out? I mean, those were Natural Borns..."

As she drove, Nagato nodded, "I did, we decided to leave it be for now and see if they decide to take you up on your offer. If they do, then we will cross that bridge when we get to it, and not any sooner." Finger tapping on the wheel, she hummed, "In regards to the Heavy Cruisers, we know who they are already as they were based on the Takao Kai designs which had better underwater and bomb protection, though slightly slower. From what I know, Takao wants to meet her sisters if they do decide to join up."

Head tilted to the side, Shiromizu frowned from where she was in the front passenger seat, "And the Battleships?"

That made the Battleship shake her head a little, "You were right when you described them as looking like Yamatos. They were based on the 140A2 variant, four double turrets with two each aft and forward, eighteen inch guns. Katsura-San stated that construction was started in 1940, though they never managed to complete them before the war was over due to shortages and needing to replace smaller ships so there was a lack of magicals available to enchant what was needed. Four of them were being built at two hidden shipyards here in Hokkaido as they were easier to get the iron ore to them. Apparently, near the end they were going to be converted to Aviation Battleships."

Only shaking his head, Harry internally snorted before considering what Hyuuga's likely reaction would have been.

Rather than continue down that line of thought though, he turned to Tsukiakari who was seated in the back along with him. To some amusement, her hat was off her head revealing her somewhat messy hair tied back in a pigtail. Softly smiling, he tilted his head some to the side, "I will admit, it is good to be able to talk with you like this, Tsukiakari."

Lightly blushing, the swordspirit nodded, "And it is good to be able to talk to you like this as well, Master. Very nice as a matter of fact." She glanced back the way that they came and sighed, "And it was good seeing the Arashi Clan once more."

Even as Harry nodded, Hoppou frowned in thought. Crossing her arm, she looked over the back of the seat where Juuchi was, "Hoppou wants to know why Juuchi doesn't come out though? Because Hoppou wants to meet her."

Smug came from said sword for several seconds before it stopped as Tsukiakari shook her head, "Senpai is being a little bit silly right now about that sort of thing." Looking at Harry, she made a motion with her finger, "Senpai wants you to catch her out and about."

One eyebrow raised, Harry hummed, "I see."

From where she was, Juuchi rattled some as if to reply that she is not being silly. Tsukiakari though shook her head, "You are being silly, Senpai. After all, I've appeared to Master now."

Bemused at the byplay as Juuchi "Replied" to her Kohai, Harry tapped his chin in thought, "Why did you hide for so long?"

That made the Kyu Gunto blink before she flushed some, "Ah, um... mainly because Senpai was playing and I didn't want to be left out." She then gave an slightly smug grin, "And also because it was sort of fun."

All Harry did though was shake his head in amusement even as he felt more smug from Juuchu. Glancing at his mother, he reached into his backpack and held out a blood orange. Suddenly feeling the Muramasa's attention on him, he waved it just above where Juuchi would be visible with a smug grin of his own, "Come on, Juuchi... do you want the orange? All you got to do is manifest..."

Unable to help herself, Tsukiakari giggled at the angry annoyance that was coming from the sword.
_________________________________________________________________

Sitting in a makeshift meeting room aboard the JDS Asuka were various personnel from both the American and Japanese military. Bandana covering his face, one of the Americans raised an eyebrow at what he had just heard, "Sir? Did you just say that we're here to test... magic?"

One of the Marine Force Recon guys leaned forward some, "What? Did they figure out how to use that MSSB shit for us normal guys? Because I can tell you right now..." His lips split apart into a wide grin, "I would not mind having me one of those sixteen inch guns myself."

As various murmurs of agreement could be heard, the Japanese Captain at the front of the room shared an amused look with his American counterpart. Some of those noted that there was also anticipation there as well, as if they were looking forward to their reactions. Shaking his head, the Japanese Captain cleared his throat, "Not quite. Magic bullshit, as it can be called, but nothing to do with shipgirls or Abyssals. That said, we will be having a number of shipgirls and Allied Abyssals including a Re-Class in the area."

Needless to say, that got him blinks of confusion. And that confusion only increased as the American Captain turned to the door as it was opened and muttered to the JMSDF Non-Com. Said Non-Com also seemed amused as he replied in a near whisper which made the American chuckle before he turned back to the room, "Now then, we have a special operative that is experienced in what we are going to test today for Operation Witching Hour. You will show him respect, boys and girls, because he could dump your collective asses in the drink to be fished out."

Hearing that, each of the Operatives there sat up a bit straighter only to stare as a thirteen year old in a cloak walked in. Said boy saluted both Captains with motions that spoke of experience in doing so, "Captain Hiro, Captain Johnson, Special Magic Operative Potter reporting."

Smirks on both their faces, the two Officers saluted back and greeted him. When all three turned to the room, both Captains had grins on their faces at the pure and utter silence that met them. Pulling out a pin, Captain Hiro dropped it and nodded as he could easily hear it, "Never thought that would actually happen."

Very slowly, one of the SEALs raised his hand, eyes showing disbelief, "Uh, Sir? Permission to speak freely?" Getting a nod, he glanced at Harry, "What the fuck? Is this some sort of joke?"

To their confusion, Captain Johnston chuckled, "No, it is not Operative." His smile was wiped from his face and it turned blank, "We are testing out magic and possibilities for it's use in regards to insertions and extractions of special forces. Especially in regards to possible Abyssal held areas or even those held by Abyssal cults among others."

Eyebrow raised, one of the Japanese operatives raised his hand and got a nod, "Magic, Sir?" At the nod, he leaned forward, "I do not mean to be disrespectful, but can we have an example?"

Harry just waited until the two Captains turned to him and nodded. Clearing his throat and trying not to show his nervousness, the thirteen year old nodded, "Of course." Pulling out his wand, he pointed it at the desk, "Serpensortia!"

From his wand, a large snake shot forward and landed on the desk before turning to the special forces and hissing. At seeing what snake it was, one of the Force Recon guys jerked back, "FUCKING HELL! THAT'S A FUCKING COTTONMOUTH!"

Walking towards it, Harry hissed at it and the snake looked at him before hissing back. He then held out a hand and the highly venomous snake slithered up his arm. After that, he cast a spell that covered part of the metal desk in ice, followed by a fire spell melting the ice, and finally, levitated the desk. Dismissing the snake, he turned back to the group who were looking wide eyed at what happened, though there were some calculating looks as well. One eyebrow cocked upwards, the Japanese Captain turned to the Operative that had asked for proof, "Satisfied?"

Only nodding as he was one of those with a calculating look, he chuckled, "Very."

Glancing at his fellow Americans, Captain Johnston nodded, "Now then, with that out of the way, let us give you all some background and some explanation..."

 

[SisterJeanne]

Oh... Goddamit.

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To be fair, it is an understandable set of choices which is going to lead to the dumpster going full lit.

Colombe has some PTSD from all the shit that her life has gone through. Specifically, seeing someone who Colombe could easily map to Lyra getting shot while she had to keep her cover (at the time, that NCO literally got turned inside out by a nasty curse when Colombe 'went active' later on in her mission) did a number on her psyche. Plus Wolff of course, notice how hard she's pushing De Nile?

So Dove-chan is pretty predisposed to go for the throat of anyone in a snappy black and silver uniform. Triply so when the person is an apparent threat to her little girl.

OTOH, Claire never really got into WWII history (specifically Colombe's activities 1940-45) by dint of no real interests in the subject or subjects related to same (Is it music-related? No? Don't know/don't care) and spending the war years gathering dust in the Castle and wondering when Mom will stop by and play her again. So she did not know that Ehren needed to ditch the Reich cosplay ASAP.

Ehren spent 1942-46 hanging out in the Potter Armory as a guest while Mother ran around Europe committing serial dumpster arson. Even before then, she had not witnessed anything too far across the moral event horizon (some massacres of POWs in Poland and France, and some brutal, ruthless, and ugly police work against enemy spies and terrorists) since Wolff never served in Eastern Europe and 'died' well before the Final Solution went into overdrive. So the poor sweet summer child genuinely thinks that she served a organization that she can be proud of even if they lost the war. That...will change once she gets a history book stuck under her nose.

So, yes, it's a Muramasa dumpster fire.

 

[robopanda]

Given how known Harry is in the navy community, I'd have expected him to introduce himself as "Special Magic Operative Potter-Nagato". Or at the very least, the people not in the know on non-shipgirl related magic to say something to the effect of "Wait, Nagato's kid?"

 

[qsurf]

Smirks on both their faces, the two Officers saluted back and greeted him. When all three turned to the room, both Captains had grins on their faces at the pure and utter silence that met them. Pulling out a pin, Captain Hiro dropped it and nodded as he could easily hear it, "Never thought that would actually happen."

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....*actually falls from his chair laughing*

 

[Spectral Waltz]

"FUCKING HELL! THAT'S A FUCKING COTTONMOUTH!"

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Not gonna lie, I fucking cackled at this bit.

 

[Harry Leferts]

Given how known Harry is in the navy community, I'd have expected him to introduce himself as "Special Magic Operative Potter-Nagato". Or at the very least, the people not in the know on non-shipgirl related magic to say something to the effect of "Wait, Nagato's kid?"

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There's reasons... also, do you think that anyone will be giving their full names here?

....*actually falls from his chair laughing*

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Let's face it, can't you see one of them doing exactly that to see if it works?

Not gonna lie, I fucking cackled at this bit.

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Just... imagine for a moment. You've either done training in the Deep South, or grew up there. So you know how deadly cottonmouths are. And this kid just pulled one of the biggest fucking ones you have ever seen from thin air. And it hissed showing it's fangs. More than that, the kid hissed at it and the damn thing proceeded to obey him like a scaly dog and even curled up his arm with the kid not reacting...

 

[banjo2E]

Colombe's blind reaching hand found the hilt of a kirpan dagger from the Punjab that she had acquired fighting the Sikhs in 1774 that she had mounted as a trophy in her family's house in 1814. With steel filling her hand, she flash-stepped forward to confront the SS soldier threatening her beloved daughter Claire.

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With a history like that, I'm half expecting that one to manifest a spirit just to tell Colombe to please leave them out of this particular family quarrel.

 

[Sakuya's Butler]

Ya know, thinking about it, the Serpensortia spell doesn't summon a snake, but CREATES one, from thin air.

Beyond the part about making thermodynamics its bitch, that spell has some very interesting possibilities when it comes to snake species that are endangered/going extinct. Specifically, that you potentially can 'pick' what kind of snake you want to appear before you.

And yes, having a cottonmouth, especially one of the big ones, be only feet from you hissing, only to turn into a purring lap pet, would freak out anyone seeing it. Although if he really wanted to scare them, and make a SEAL freeze in place/piss themselves, he'd have created a true Sea Snake or a Sea Krait. Either of which you do NOT screw with, as their venom makes land-based snakes look tame by comparison (some Sea Krait venoms cause BONES to start to partially liquefy).

-=-

Partially on that same topic...

Since Shiromizu for the longest time, effectively from birth until her equivalent of being 16-17(18?), considering how she views herself around Harry as his big sister (and the Ara Ara Effect doesn't usually kick in til those ages), she is far more in-tune with snakes than she is other dragons.

Any possibility that she, like certain other kami, might take up (white rat)snakes as part of her 'portfolio'? And/Or as a commonly encountered retainer or messenger of hers? Considering the abuse she had to live through as a child, through to her teens, she likely would empathize with other snakes, and feel rather protective towards them.

-=-

Lastly, due to her stunt/reveal in the RoR, Harry & Shiromizu can pull off a Pokeball stunt. She hides in a full-sized ball, with obvious cushioning charms inside it, and the instant he tosses it, she goes full Draconic.

On that note, if she wanted to crossplay? A spell that briefly (24hr or less) turns her scales & whiskers green/gold, a voice changing spell, while Harry goes and finds himself seven orange orbs....cue absolute hilarity the first Con and/or Halloween post-SoS collapse. Her friend/mentor, Ryujin's son, might just be laughing himself silly at it, until his not-actually-Yomiko-Readman girlfriend pokes him, and points out there's a second dragon available, who is 'a big buff guy', that needs to be cosplayed.

 

[SisterJeanne]

With a history like that, I'm half expecting that one to manifest a spirit just to tell Colombe to please leave them out of this particular family quarrel.

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Naah, random kirpan dagger off a random Sikh cavalryman that Colombe killed and looted in 1774 during her days as a mercenary in India. In part because it has a nice ivory hilt and the steel quality was pretty good (not great, but good).

She took it with her when she headed back home in 1791 because it was a nice dagger, and it got shifted to the ballroom wall by the door as decoration sometime 1860-1895 when European high society got a bit more into the trophies from exotic lands. While it is certainly old enough to manifest, it does not nearly have enough spiritual weight or magic to do so (all it has is the basic preservation/maintenance charm that Colombe slaps on all her trophies and a second one to repel dust). Perhaps the closest thing she has in the house that might pop up next is the Napoleonic Eagle battle flag from the 6th Légère Regiment that Colombe and her nephew captured at Leipzig in 1813.

(Probably won't though, I'm not keen on developing and having to account for any more du Chasteler cast members)

Now if it could manifest, it might be egging her along to go for it, since it was/is a weapon of war versus a show piece.

 

[FlyingScanian]

Napoleonic Eagle battle flag from the 6th Légère Regiment that Colombe and her nephew captured at Leipzig in 1814

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Don't do that to me . Now I'm desperately trying to figure out what happened to that eagle in our world (not helped by my lack of knowledge about the napoleonic french army, aside from the fact that their egles were regimental standards).

Also, are you sure you wrote the right year? Basic searching (wiki-walking) says the Battle of Leipzig was in 1813...

 

[SisterJeanne]

Don't do that to me . Now I'm desperately trying to figure out what happened to that eagle in our world (not helped by my lack of knowledge about the napoleonic french army, aside from the fact that their egles were regimental standards).

Also, are you sure you wrote the right year? Basic searching (wiki-walking) says the Battle of Leipzig was in 1813...

Click to shrink...

Gaah, 1813 is right. My goof.

Point stands though. Colombe and her nephew Johann du Chasteler took that eagle at Leipzig on the first day when they counterattacked and broke the 6th in hand to hand combat. They then lugged it home (along with the standard of Johann's regiment when it was disbanded after Napoleon left for Elba) and it has pride of place in Colombe's billiards room (which has the bulk of her military/hunting trophies so elephant tusks, weapons, those battle flags, lion and leopard heads and so on).

IRL that particular Eagle probably got melted down when the Bourbons came back in 1815 and destroyed as many as they could find to retrieve the gold.

Here's part of a later snippet that I have yet to crosspost since this is well down the road (spoilered)

Spoiler

The walk passed in comfortable silence, and Ehren opened the door and bowed Delilah through. "The billiard room, Aunt."

Delilah walked inside and gave an impressed whistle at the sight portrayed. Weapons and trophies from hunting and war lined the walls, separated by country of origin.

To her left, a pair of crossed battle-damaged and blood-stained flags had pride of place, one Austrian for the 1st Wallonian Grenz Regiment with visible bullet holes in the tattered silk over a Napoleonic flag for the 6th Légère Regiment with a combat damaged gilded eagle on the staff. Delilah walked over and looked at the flags with a keen eye.

Spoiler: The Eagle of the 6th Légère

".69 caliber. Musket fire. These are Napoleonic trophies so it would have been fired... 100 yards, maybe a lot closer. Bloody business that, since that is near enough for a bayonet charge before you can reload. She was probably standing on the dead and dying then when the death grapple happened. .69 caliber soft lead... well if hits a leg or arm, there's no saving the limb, you have to amputate. Torso wound is almost a sure fatality. We learned that the hard way ourselves in the Civil War." Delilah's voice was hushed and her eyes shimmered.

Ehren nodded, a note of fierce pride in her crisp voice. "Mother and Uncle Johann Gabriel du Chasteler led the counterattack at Liebertwolkwitz village during the first day of the Battle of Nations. She says that they broke the 6th in hand to hand combat and personally claimed its Eagle with her blade red to the hilt. One in three of their regiment died around her in securing the village to plug a hole in the lines."

Delilah snapped to attention and saluted the tattered flags stained with the blood of brave men two centuries dead. Ehren followed suit.

"I can see why you like this room, Ehren. But unfortunately, I did not come here to discuss your family's proud military heritage."

 

[Harry Leferts]

Ya know, thinking about it, the Serpensortia spell doesn't summon a snake, but CREATES one, from thin air.

Beyond the part about making thermodynamics its bitch, that spell has some very interesting possibilities when it comes to snake species that are endangered/going extinct. Specifically, that you potentially can 'pick' what kind of snake you want to appear before you.

Click to shrink...

Possibly, but we don't know if they can breed or not.

And yes, having a cottonmouth, especially one of the big ones, be only feet from you hissing, only to turn into a purring lap pet, would freak out anyone seeing it. Although if he really wanted to scare them, and make a SEAL freeze in place/piss themselves, he'd have created a true Sea Snake or a Sea Krait. Either of which you do NOT screw with, as their venom makes land-based snakes look tame by comparison (some Sea Krait venoms cause BONES to start to partially liquefy).

Click to shrink...

True, but it was a demonstration so Harry focused on a dangerous American snake.

Granted, right after they started thinking how to use such an ability during an infiltration...

Partially on that same topic...

Since Shiromizu for the longest time, effectively from birth until her equivalent of being 16-17(18?), considering how she views herself around Harry as his big sister (and the Ara Ara Effect doesn't usually kick in til those ages), she is far more in-tune with snakes than she is other dragons.

Any possibility that she, like certain other kami, might take up (white rat)snakes as part of her 'portfolio'? And/Or as a commonly encountered retainer or messenger of hers? Considering the abuse she had to live through as a child, through to her teens, she likely would empathize with other snakes, and feel rather protective towards them.

Click to shrink...

It is not impossible that she takes up rat snakes as a part of her portfolio, no. In fact, it is very likely that she might do so along with other snakes.

Lastly, due to her stunt/reveal in the RoR, Harry & Shiromizu can pull off a Pokeball stunt. She hides in a full-sized ball, with obvious cushioning charms inside it, and the instant he tosses it, she goes full Draconic.

Click to shrink...

:lol

On that note, if she wanted to crossplay? A spell that briefly (24hr or less) turns her scales & whiskers green/gold, a voice changing spell, while Harry goes and finds himself seven orange orbs....cue absolute hilarity the first Con and/or Halloween post-SoS collapse. Her friend/mentor, Ryujin's son, might just be laughing himself silly at it, until his not-actually-Yomiko-Readman girlfriend pokes him, and points out there's a second dragon available, who is 'a big buff guy', that needs to be cosplayed.

Click to shrink...

Sad thing is that I can honestly see that...

With a history like that, I'm half expecting that one to manifest a spirit just to tell Colombe to please leave them out of this particular family quarrel.

Click to shrink...

Naah, random kirpan dagger off a random Sikh cavalryman that Colombe killed and looted in 1774 during her days as a mercenary in India. In part because it has a nice ivory hilt and the steel quality was pretty good (not great, but good).

She took it with her when she headed back home in 1791 because it was a nice dagger, and it got shifted to the ballroom wall by the door as decoration sometime 1860-1895 when European high society got a bit more into the trophies from exotic lands. While it is certainly old enough to manifest, it does not nearly have enough spiritual weight or magic to do so (all it has is the basic preservation/maintenance charm that Colombe slaps on all her trophies and a second one to repel dust). Perhaps the closest thing she has in the house that might pop up next is the Napoleonic Eagle battle flag from the 6th Légère Regiment that Colombe and her nephew captured at Leipzig in 1813.

(Probably won't though, I'm not keen on developing and having to account for any more du Chasteler cast members)

Now if it could manifest, it might be egging her along to go for it, since it was/is a weapon of war versus a show piece.

Click to shrink...

For some odd reason, that is hilarious.

Don't do that to me . Now I'm desperately trying to figure out what happened to that eagle in our world (not helped by my lack of knowledge about the napoleonic french army, aside from the fact that their egles were regimental standards).

Also, are you sure you wrote the right year? Basic searching (wiki-walking) says the Battle of Leipzig was in 1813...

Click to shrink...

Gaah, 1813 is right. My goof.

Point stands though. Colombe and her nephew Johann du Chasteler took that eagle at Leipzig on the first day when they counterattacked and broke the 6th in hand to hand combat. They then lugged it home (along with the standard of Johann's regiment when it was disbanded after Napoleon left for Elba) and it has pride of place in Colombe's billiards room (which has the bulk of her military/hunting trophies so elephant tusks, weapons, those battle flags, lion and leopard heads and so on).

IRL that particular Eagle probably got melted down when the Bourbons came back in 1815 and destroyed as many as they could find to retrieve the gold.

Click to shrink...

Makes sense to me, though I imagine that the Potters might also have some.

Here's part of a later snippet that I have yet to crosspost since this is well down the road (spoilered)

Spoiler

The walk passed in comfortable silence, and Ehren opened the door and bowed Delilah through. "The billiard room, Aunt."

Delilah walked inside and gave an impressed whistle at the sight portrayed. Weapons and trophies from hunting and war lined the walls, separated by country of origin.

To her left, a pair of crossed battle-damaged and blood-stained flags had pride of place, one Austrian for the 1st Wallonian Grenz Regiment with visible bullet holes in the tattered silk over a Napoleonic flag for the 6th Légère Regiment with a combat damaged gilded eagle on the staff. Delilah walked over and looked at the flags with a keen eye.

Spoiler: The Eagle of the 6th Légère

".69 caliber. Musket fire. These are Napoleonic trophies so it would have been fired... 100 yards, maybe a lot closer. Bloody business that, since that is near enough for a bayonet charge before you can reload. She was probably standing on the dead and dying then when the death grapple happened. .69 caliber soft lead... well if hits a leg or arm, there's no saving the limb, you have to amputate. Torso wound is almost a sure fatality. We learned that the hard way ourselves in the Civil War." Delilah's voice was hushed and her eyes shimmered.

Ehren nodded, a note of fierce pride in her crisp voice. "Mother and Uncle Johann Gabriel du Chasteler led the counterattack at Liebertwolkwitz village during the first day of the Battle of Nations. She says that they broke the 6th in hand to hand combat and personally claimed its Eagle with her blade red to the hilt. One in three of their regiment died around her in securing the village to plug a hole in the lines."

Delilah snapped to attention and saluted the tattered flags stained with the blood of brave men two centuries dead. Ehren followed suit.

"I can see why you like this room, Ehren. But unfortunately, I did not come here to discuss your family's proud military heritage."

Click to shrink...

Hmm... tease.

 

[Trufla]

Suddenly feeling the Muramasa's attention on him, he waved it just above where Juuchi would be visible with a smug grin of his own, "Come on, Juuchi... do you want the orange? All you got to do is manifest..."

Click to shrink...

Is it wrong of me to imagine this as one of those dog-training videos where the guard dog sits still while the trainer balances a treat on their nose, only in this case substitute Juuchi for a not-quite trained canine and Harry waving her treat just out of easy reach? All she has to do to get her treat is one little snatch and grab, so simple to do....

 

[FlyingScanian]

IRL that particular Eagle probably got melted down when the Bourbons came back in 1815 and destroyed as many as they could find to retrieve the gold.

Click to shrink...

Ah, I thought it was one of those "disappeared Eagles", not known what finally happened with it. Still, off to wikiwalk about the Battle of Leipzig I am

 

[Harry Leferts]

Is it wrong of me to imagine this as one of those dog-training videos where the guard dog sits still while the trainer balances a treat on their nose, only in this case substitute Juuchi for a not-quite trained canine and Harry waving her treat just out of easy reach? All she has to do to get her treat is one little snatch and grab, so simple to do....

Click to shrink...

No, nothing wrong with that as that is basically what is happening here. Hence why she is getting so annoyed and Harry is so damn smug.

 

[SisterJeanne]

Ah, I thought it was one of those "disappeared Eagles", not known what finally happened with it. Still, off to wikiwalk about the Battle of Leipzig I am

Click to shrink...

Yeah, to fill you in if you missed it in the massive Colombe history dump in the earlier thread, Colombe after breaking the SoS massively during The French Revolution had to lay low from the law for a bit, so she gave her true body to her nephew Johann Gabriel du Chasteler, the avatar vanished when he rode far enough away form the castle, and she served with him as a bit of a spirit advisor in the Austrian Army 1791-1814.

At Leipzig, he was a staff officer with IV Austrian Corps and her advice (being a mercenary/soldier for about 80 years plus luck powers helped) was partly responsible for IV Corps preventing a breakout by the French on the first day of the battle. I just picked one French regiment actually present there in their OOB and turned the 1st Wallachian Grenz Regiment (from Rumania IIRC) to the 1st Wallonian Grenz (woudl have been Belgian) as 'her unit' that Johann personally commanded in a counterattack to buy time and plug a hole with their lives.

No, nothing wrong with that as that is basically what is happening here. Hence why she is getting so annoyed and Harry is so damn smug.

Click to shrink...

And why there will be many orange peels under the sheets of his bed tonight....

 

[Harry Leferts]

Leaning forward, the SEAL Operative frowned as he examined the video playing in front of them in interest. With a hum, he turned to Harry and tilted his head some, "So flying on broomsticks is a thing then? Seriously?"

Hands behind his back, Harry gave a nod, "It is as a matter of fact. I actually play a sport which is entirely done on broomsticks." At the looks, he shrugged, "My job is to catch a flying ball about the size of a golfball that is flying around something the size of a college football field. Other balls that are carried and thrown through goals that are about the size of footballs... soccer balls for the Americans." That got him a few snorts, though they quietened some, "And then there are balls made of iron and covered in a leather skin that are about the same size that fly around and are batted at various people on opposing teams to knock people from brooms."

Just whistling, one of the Marines leaned back with a grin on his face, "Now that is a hardcore sport."

Shrugging, Harry shook his head, "Us wizards are... a bit more physically tough, than normal humans are. I've personally hit the ground at speeds that would break bones and only gotten sprains at worst, which are healed up within a few hours due to magic."

Only shaking his head, one of the Japanese Operatives shook his head, "Don't I wish for something like that."

Behind Harry, Captain Hiro smirked, "Depending on how things go in the next few years, you may well get your wish." Various Operatives perked up at that and he nodded, "It is years away, but we are examining some interesting possibilities just the same."

Captain Johnston snorted a bit, "One of the potions that they have? You know that potion in Alice in Wonderland when she shrinks down to the size of a mouse? That exists, for example." He grimaced a bit, "But it is also a security nightmare, to say the least."

Not one of the Operatives did not also grimace at that, understanding just how much of a nightmare such a thing is.

Tone dry, Captain Hiro glanced at the video playing and brought up another. This one showed Goto drinking something and transforming into Kongou, "There are other such potions that are both useful and nightmares in and of themselves." Ignoring how various Operatives were staring at the video in both deep thought and consideration, he continued, "Operation Witching Hour also has a secondary aim. Besides the transport, you will be given some magical items and give your own opinions of them while on Mikura-Jima."

Beside him, Captain Johnston nodded, "As well, you will be given some potions to test. All are perfectly safe and from records have been used for several hundred years each, both for magicals and non-magicals. That is on a volunteer basis. Some help senses and others will do things like boost physical attributes. There will be a medic on site as well who has... magical abilities. As usual, all this is to be classified for at least a few years."

Glancing at Harry, one of the Marines shrugged, "I would ask about Operative Potter, but at the same time? He's been keeping a pretty big secret as it is." He tilted his head as he looked at the papers in front of him, "It also says here that we're testing another form of transportation?"

With a nod, Captain Johnston frowned, "Flying carpets." He then gave a stink eye to the Americans there who were already grinning, "And the first one of you fuckers who start singing 'I will show you the World' will find out just how bad latrines can be when cleaning them with a Q-tip."

Hand raising into the air, one of the SEALs snorted, "Don't you mean a toothbrush?"

Only giving him a look, Johnston frowned, "No. I will personally give you a box of Q-tips." Despite that warning, he noted that more than a few of the Americans were giving it serious consideration, which made him internally sigh, 'Fuckers are going to do it anyway.'

Harry, meanwhile, shrugged, "Carpets can be a bit of a trade off. On the one hand, they are more comfortable and can seat more, as we're using a fourteen seater. But on the other hand, they are slower speed than brooms."

Now intrigued, one of the female Japanese Operative raised her hand, "Speed you say? How fast can these go?"

For a few moments, Harry frowned a bit before nodding, "A flying carpet can travel at about a hundred to a hundred and twenty kilometres an hour, or sixty two to about seventy five miles per hour. A broom can go much faster, I own a racing broom that nearly hits two hundred and forty five kilometres per hour, or a hundred and fifty miles."

Whistling, one of the SEALs shook his head, "Now that is an impressive ride."

Lips curling, the thirteen year old shrugged, "Well, actually one thing that is true is that some people have enchanted cars to fly and that sort of thing. Even adding invisibility."

Already spotting the raised hand, Captain Johnston rolled his eyes and sighed, "No, we do not have any flying cars that can be invisible. Though I am certain that the eggheads are already salivating at the idea of what they can do. Besides which, I am not sure that I would trust any of you nutcases behind the wheel of one."

Smirks met him and he threw his hands up in the air already making predictions of the shit that the guys in front of him might get into. Another hour passed for the briefing and they all walked out onto the helicopter deck of the Asuka. One of them noted that Harry was talking with a Re-Class, with said Abyssal nodding, "Huh, look at that. Wonder what that is about?"

Glancing over, a Marine shrugged, "That one? Seen her following the Kid around Yokosuka at times. Pretty sure that she likes him."

Eyebrow raised, one of the SEALs chuckled after giving Regina a once over, "Well, can't say that the Kid doesn't have good taste." He then frowned a bit, "So... what do you think, Sir?"

The leader of the SEALs there frowned a bit and rubbed his chin, "What do I think? That things will be interesting in the next couple of years. All sorts of neat shit for us to get our grubby paws on. But also stuff that we're going to need to deal with." Eyes narrowing, he scowled a bit before relaxing and shrugging, "So in other words, different shit is much the same shit."

A cackle made them look at one of the Marines who had a pouch, "Look at this shit!" Taking his rifle, he slipped it inside the pouch and then pulled it back out, "What the fuck? A real goddamn bag of holding!" Putting his gun back into it, he clipped it to his belt, "Bullshit, that is what this is, just fucking bullshit."

One of his buddies clapped him on the shoulder, "And just think? You know that the Brass is going to use this as an excuse to have us carry even more shit with us when we go out."

Yet another Marine adjusted his glasses some and frowned in thought, "Hey, the Kid mentioned that there were trunks with an expanded inside, right? And they can be shrunk and stuff?" Getting nods, he slowly grinned, "I wonder if you can fit an artillery piece inside or a vehicle..."

For several moments, there was nothing and then wide grins. The type that promised that someone, somewhere, was going to be getting a lot of pain at some point. It was then that a Sergeant scowled, "And? We don't have a monopoly on this, so if you figured it out then some bastard with a shell that has your name on it could do so as well." But then he grinned, "Though I will admit, the thought of pulling a Tank from one is a goddamn beautiful one."

Dark chuckles echoed from the Operatives there before one of them noticed that Harry was walking over with a giant broom. Raising his eyebrow, he gave it a look over, "Is what we're going to use?"

Holding it out for a few moments, Harry let go of it and it hovered in place, "Yup." Finger tapping it, the thirteen year old smiled, "A Station-Master 05, named for the year, seats seven adults easily, eight if you want to be cramped. Top speed of about... a hundred miles per hour."

Just walking over to it, the SEAL examined it along with the Marine Sargent. Both of them turning thoughtful before glancing at each other and shrugging. Turning back to Harry, the SEAL nodded, "Let's see how it works then, I guess."

Several minutes later found him and a few other SEALs on the broom as it lifted off from the ship and headed for the nearby island. Glancing down, he nodded as their feet was about a foot above the wave tips. Low enough that even if radar could pick them up, he doubted that it would.

Already, it was giving him a few ideas.

Thoughtful, he tapped Harry on the shoulder, "How high can this go?"

One eyebrow raised as he answered back over the radio, the teen snorted, "How high do you want it? I've given it a shot and reached about ten thousand feet easy. Once looked up the record and one guy reached about thirty thousand feet before he started running into issues."
It went without saying that the SEALs shared looks at that. A small target capable of a decent speed and able to carry them to several dozen thousand feet up? Oh, they really needed some. If only for the jumps that could be done. Within fifteen minutes, they reached the island and rose to just above the canopy with one of them pointing, "Can you set us down there?"

Looking at the spot in question, one where one would need a helicopter with rope to normally get through the branches, Harry nodded, "Sure, give me just a moment." With some careful maneuvering, he brought his broom down through the branches with the Operatives pushing the branches aside as needed. Soon enough, he was at ground level and they nodded and they hopped down, "And there we go."

One of the SEALs brought up his rifle and looked around before nodding, "Very nice."

What happened was something that he also did with the Marines, but in their case, he took them further by flying between the trees. Behind him, the Sergeant nodded with a slight frown on his face. Not because he was displeased, but because he was pleased, After getting off, he brought out one of the omniculars and snorted some, "So... this can record, slow down, and everything?"

Pointing at one of the knobs, Harry nodded, "Yeah, that one right there can record, and the one behind it replay, while the one beside it slows down the replay. That button is low light as with the one beside being autofocus that will zoom in on anything human sized moving automatically. Also, the zoom function is good enough that you could read a novel from four football fields away easily."

That got some intrigued looks from the Marines.

Four hours later, after they started testing the carpets found Captain Johnston growling into his headset, "Forget the fucking Q-tips! I am going to have them use toothpicks or, missing that, their own damn tongues!"

Beside him, Captain Hiro smiled a bit as he cocked his head to the side, "I will admit, they have nice singing voices... especially the one they call 'Tiny', I believe is his callsign." He ignored the cursing and held out one hand. Moments later, a wad of bills was slapped into it and he nodded, "Thank you, this shall pay for my sake when we get back to port."

Scowling, Johnston shook his head before stalking over to the radar station followed by Hiro. Once there, he looked down at the young man looking over what was coming through, "What have you figured out?"

With one final reading as the flying carpet passed close to the ship, Marines singing a certain Disney song as Harry cackled, the Radar Tech frowned, "Good and bad things. As expected, the small size of the... vehicles, means that at a distance, they are hard to pick up as it is. Pretty sure that stealth helicopter of you Americans could be picked up at less then ten miles out. These? Thousand feet and it becomes hard. Worse, the fact that the size as well as lack of metal and the exposed human bodies? It tricks the computers, especially at low speed."

Now leaning in, the Japanese Captain frowned, "Tricks the computers? How?"

Pointing at the screen, the Radar Tech shook his head, "See here? To the computer, they look like a grouping of large birds. So it actually ignores them under most circumstances. We could make some fixes to catch them easier, but... at low speeds, we'd be getting a lot of false flags. But that's a good thing for incidents when we need boarding or just landing them somewhere as I have no doubt that normal land based radar would see the same thing."

Eyes narrowing, Captain Johnston bit his thumb, "Shit."

Arms crossed, Captain Hiro only nodded with a frown of his own, "Indeed, that is problematic. Because as good as it can be used by us, that also means that our enemies could use the same trick."

Softly snorting, the American shook his head, "Leave it to DARPA, they'll come up with something. Still, this is a hell of a lot more data then I expected to get."

Chuckling, his Japanese counterpart shook his head, "Undoubtable they're going to be spending months and years looking at everything. At least we're getting it now though and not down the road in a worse situation."

Both of them shared a look at that with a shared nod of agreement.

Fifteen minutes later found Harry on the carpet with a group of the Japanese Special Forces. The young woman with them tapped him on the back and made him look over his shoulder, "Yes?"

Eyes crinkling some behind her mask, she shook her head, "Is there any sort of test that can show how safe this is? You mentioned before that it is impossible to fall off?"

All Harry did was nod, "Hai, that is true. There's a spell that once you're seated, will not let you fall off until either the carpet is destroyed, or at a standstill. If you want..." Getting a motion to go on, he twisted until they were all upside down... and still sitting on the carpet as if it was right-side up, "See?"

Blinking, one of the other Japanese Operatives tilted his head back to look "Up" at the water, "Hmm... useful."

When they passed over the LCS upside down, one of the sailors looked up and shook his head, "Bullshit."

 

[robopanda]

It is so refreshing to see special forces people actually take the situation seriously and LISTEN to someone like Harry instead of brushing him off solely because "Oh, he's just a kid, what does he know?"

 

[Trufla]

It is so refreshing to see special forces people actually take the situation seriously and LISTEN to someone like Harry instead of brushing him off solely because "Oh, he's just a kid, what does he know?"

Click to shrink...

I imagine that it only took to the end of the snake demo for the group to start taking Harry seriously. There aren't too many special force people in my group of acquaintances who don't pay pretty close attention to an expert once they've proved that they know what they're talking about and not just blowing smoke.

 

[Harry Leferts]

It is so refreshing to see special forces people actually take the situation seriously and LISTEN to someone like Harry instead of brushing him off solely because "Oh, he's just a kid, what does he know?"

Click to shrink...

I imagine that it only took to the end of the snake demo for the group to start taking Harry seriously. There aren't too many special force people in my group of acquaintances who don't pay pretty close attention to an expert once they've proved that they know what they're talking about and not just blowing smoke.

Click to shrink...

Pretty much, yeah. When Harry proved that he did know what he was talking about? They slotted him in as someone who does know more about this stuff than they do, and so should be listened to. Remember, Harry mostly talked about brooms, flying carpets, how to use simply magic items, and the two Captains fielded other stuff.

 

[qsurf]

To be fair about the carpet thing, I don't think that there's anyone in the world professional enough to resist singing that song if they ever find themselves on an actual flying magic carpet.

I can't wait to see how the bored personnel fit in other Disney songs after the Fall of the SoS. Personally, I gonna make a bet right now that a Yuki-Onna Shipgirl / Officer in the future is going to be very tired of a certain earworm.

 

[Jormuungaand]

I think there ARE any number of people who can resist singing.

Humming? That's trickier.

 

[Admiral Pendulum]

QUEEN OF SPEED​

Reckless Records, May 10th, 2013. 10:13 Central US time.

S.Dogg: Nice ta hear from ya cuz, Gonna be some good times dealin with hairstylists, Never knew this side'a history could be interesting, a nice clean grass feel right here.

The Ravenette rolled her eyes as she texted back to the rapper's cheeky comment, knowing full well what type of 'Grass' he was referring to.

Illy-G: Indeed, I'll get in touch with some of the older ship girls and the costume suppliers we had before. It'll certainly be a treat given the shitstorm it caused when we dropped the first video.

S.Dogg: Shit, took weeks to get Big J off my back. Damn near shat my pants when I saw her waitin' outside my crib. Don't even want to think what woulda gone down if her homeboy wasn't right there fosho.

Illy-G: It shouldn't be too bad this time around though. Mods will be in the loop on SGO, and the shock factor will be considerably less since they know what to expect from the next episode dialog-wise.

S.Dogg: Got that right, Take it Easy Cuz, me and the boys gotta catch a ride to San Diego to meet up with Pitbull for some of them USO tours he got us on.

Illy-G: Take it easy then!

Illinois sighed a bit as she slipped her phone into her back pocket.

"God help us all when Crowning takes a dirt nap. I just hope he can get New Jersey to lighten up about poking fun at her namesake state… and 80's jokes, definitely 80's jokes too."

Illinois gently pulled the stylus off the finished record and prepared to get the next compilation vinyl going on the turntable when she heard knocking on one of the small windows to her right. Craning her neck up to the window a fairy stood dressed in Kriegsmarine fatigues. The fairy then pointed to the door where his ship was waiting in the back alley.

Outside, U-37 waited for the american to grant her entry. She was relaying messages via both radio and text message to her cousin who was enroute to intercepting Illinois' half-sister and the five Kamikaze sisters at O'Hare.

"Hey, What's up?"

The blonde submarine gave an internal sigh at the natural born's informality when answering the door to a fellow officer.

"Guten Tag, U-505 contacted myself and Mine schwester, U-39 with a matter of the utmost urgency. You, dine schwester, und alles Kamikaze-Classe are needed immediately at Das Museum für Wissenschaft und Industrie."

Despite having the broken english to work with, there was only one spot in Chicago that was a 'museum of Industry'.

"Alright, Let's get going then."

The U-Boat placed her hand on the doorway to block the fauxtleship's exit, to which Illinois turned her perplexed violet gaze to the German.

"Der Jungen bitte auch."

Illinois blinked owlishly at the U-boat, her understanding of the german language was limited at best, however she did know several phrases from the once prolific second language of the United States prior to the first world war.

"Englisch bitte."

It was U-37's turn to blink, having not realized she slipped into her native tongue fully.

"The boy, he must come too."

The ravenette furrowed her brows and looked through the doorway behind her at Josh who was shooting the breeze with two bespectacled customers before his brother smacked him upside the head to focus.

"I will need to leave some of my crew behind to help out."

The shorter blonde shook her head causing her long, platinum blond hair to fan out a bit.

"Nein, I shall handle it. Auror's are involved and apparently he is related to them in a way Frau-Illinois."

The natural-born's amethyst gaze narrowed, remembering all too well the scare other natural-borns had. The ravenette's own security during that time was a bitter pill to take, but allowed her to help others in need.

"Let me wrangle him up then. This had better not be a prank spawned from Thatcher or I swear I'll see to it her ice cream ration is cut for a full 3 months."

Elsewhere, in the Colorado rockies, a certain silver-haired destroyer sneezed as she overlooked the city of Durango, her amber eyes squinted a bit at the post-sunrise horizon before another sneeze echoed in the mountains.

"I assure you this is serious, 505 is rarely in a pranking mood, the fact that Auror's are involved confirms that she is dead serious."

The ravenette nodded and headed back inside. When she returned Josh and Gerald were swearing up a storm with the former being yanked along helplessly by the back of his shirt. Internally Driseb chuckled at the shipgirl and teenager seeming like a couple. No doubt a new betting pot was started on the pair when the news got out about the incident outside the Lake Street station.

"WHAT THE FUCKING FUCK!"

The blonde's expression remained unmoved at the vulgar language, shadowing New Jersey occasionally in how to 'American' was more than enough to desensitize her after a day.

"You have charges at a certain museum, Ja?"

Instantly the young man's mouth shut tight at the U-boat's question whilst Illinois' grip tightened and her expression darkened a bit.

"Oh? Is that so?"

Josh's face quickly broke out in a sweat, his gaze was tacitly cast inside the building he was dragged out of. However, the Fauxtleship's crew provided no sanctuary from their ship's anger.

"Yes, they are safe though, however even if der jungen was there, there wasn't much he could have done against a pair of Aurors."

Having forgotten his situation in a moment of 'teenage arrogance/ignorance' Josh blurted out the first thought he had.

"The fuck is an 'Auror'?"

Illinois slowly turned her head back to the young man with a false smile on her face as her bangs shadowed her closed eyes in a way that would have made a certain Japanese light cruiser proud.

"Since you sherked your responsibility as a guardian, you've forfeited your choice between the red and blue pill~."

Josh's response was a single word that described not only his feelings on the situation, but also his position in it as well.

"...Shit."

The U-Boat almost felt sorry for the young man… almost. Her brief moment of sympathy done, the blonde gave a nod and handed her the information she currently had off to the american as she towed Josh along. A sigh escaped the germans lips as she entered the record store to pick up the slack and keep Josh's brother from being placed in MACUSA or rogue magical Crosshairs as well as place her bet into the pool while it was still early.

Addison Station - Blue Line, May 10th, 2013. 10:20 Central US time.

Indiana pinched the bridge of her nose a bit as a string of 'Desu' and 'Hey' relayed between her crew and that of Asakaze, one of the five Kamikaze-class destroyers she was tasked with showing about the city for their month-long stay and training on Lake Michigan.

"Yes… I've asked my sister about that, in fact, as recently as today while I was here to get you girls from the airport. She's not sure at all when they'll be filming it even. I'd have been one of the first to know… and no, I don't have the power to get an autograph for you from Snoop Dogg."

When Indiana had signed up for the position it was under the impression that the older destroyers would be slower than the american fletchers, however her still snail's pace speed as America's first numbered battleship proved that impression to be a naively optimistic assumption as they were nearly as fast, and from what she had dealt with over the past hour they had been on the train from O'hare? They were just as mischievous as the Fletcher sisters.

"You've met him yourself though right? You have to be able to get him to meet with me so I can play a few video games with him too!"

There was another pause while the fairies relayed translations between their respective ships, with both crews equally amused at the byplay.

"No, I haven't met him. Unlike my sister, I'm not terribly fond of his work outside his Collab with my sister and Plizzanet earth."

The freckled-faced blonde hissed between her teeth with frustration as Harukaze watched on in amusement at her sister's antics concealing her mirthful giggles with a paper fan. The eldest and namesake of the sisters gave a heavy sigh and hung her head, she would need to profusely apologize to the american and give Asakaze a run through the verbal wringer.

However, as the train began to pick up speed the destroyers stiffened a bit as they sensed something amiss. Turning as one, they eyed a particular individual who just got on the train. Said individual was conspicuously hiding their face behind an upside-down newspaper. Kamikaze calmly approached and slowly pulled down the newspaper to reveal a young silver-blonde who wore a cheap Groucho Marx disguise. The woman slowly looked up at the Japanese destroyer to meet her flat gaze.

"H-Hallo…"

U-39 stammered as she was figured out almost instantly. She had been trying to keep her distance and move slowly towards them, but once more it seemed she was spotted while shadowing. Kamikaze spoke in english, much to the surprise of her sisters and their battleship guide.

"Good morning, You're not attempting to stalk us now are you?"

The submarine shook her head instinctively, destroyers were after all her natural enemy and the fact that they were allies not only during the second world war, but also the current one still didn't fully register with her in the heat of the moment.

"N-Nein! Of course not!"

The glare continued, unwavering at the U-boat as she withered under her accuser's stare.

"...Only in practice! I swear!"

The eldest of the destroyers sighed a bit and lightly bopped the U-boat on the head, eliciting a squak from the german..

"MSSB is a thing, even if we couldn't sense you right away, when you moved suddenly our passive sonar tipped us off. You can thank the american's for helping us out in ASW tactics."

U-39 sulked a bit at the revelation as she removed her poor attempt at a disguise, steeling herself before she began her explanation to the five destroyers and battleship. Indiana's jaw tightened a bit as the german finished her briefing. The Japanese destroyers were also visibly angry with the turn of events. It seemed that every day the Magical Governments of the world were digging their collective grave a little closer to the six foot mark.

"Of course we're going to help out. We may be ships of war, but our turbines are run by the same substance as this train is after all, we'd also be able to meet Yuu-chan's sister."

Harukaze's sentiments were met with agreement from her sisters. Hatakaze added as well.

"And to think that there's a museum that's a Tsukumogami too… I wonder if there are any others that have popped up or are just keeping hidden until the statue falls."

Indiana sucked in a bit of air through her teeth and puckered her lips while exhaling to calm herself down a bit.

"That's neither here nor there for the time being. Right now we need to get to the museum and help them out there."

Museum of Science and Industry, May 10th, 2013, 10:22 am

William had been in touch with MACUSA officials almost immediately after the party had descended down the artificial mine exhibit, demanding who had left him out of the loop when it came to seal repairs. The Chicago area's head auror, Melber Flanagan, sighed with as close as one could come to a double-facepalm without actually performing the physical action.

"And there's no way you can get the three apart to allow an auror team the chance to obliviate them?"

William gave a convincing sigh and meddled with his blinds as the balding auror looked on from the two-way mirror on the Museum executive's desk.

"Not without potentially blowing my cover Mel, If that happens you'd lose the link to try and keep that seal going… I'm still curious as to why that engine is so important that you'd risk…"

"Bill…"

The Squib clammed up as his old friend continued.

"I wish I knew too why that was the case, but orders came from well above my authority… important enough that a pair of Wyldworths were dispatched without even me being notified. I'm afraid I can't do much on my end but ask that you do your best in sweeping this under the rug."

The older wizard's expression gave William all he needed to know, Melber was one of the few MACUSA aurors in a position of power that saw the writing on the wall, but those higher than him would dismiss him from his post at any mention of the 'inevitable'.

"I'll see what the basement has, for the time being it's best aurors stay well away from the area. If that submarine's any indication, there's going to be one hell of a backlash if someone pulls something so soon. I'll see what I can do about getting that seal fixed with some of those Japanese wards as a stop gap. No promises though."

The head Auror's hazel eyes looked over his friends demeanor, also reading the unspoken message from his old friend.

"We'll do our best to give a week of strictly observation in the area, after that I'll make sure the higher-ups actually get in-touch to coordinate another attempt. Try to keep those ship girls from getting too close to her so we have a bit more time."

The Museum Manager nodded.

"Understood, I'll get a cordon around her with some warded curtains To keep her isolated while under 'cosmic maintenance'."

The Auror nodded before the mirror returned to show William's reflection. The middle-aged man carefully returned the enchanted mirror back into his desk.

How fortunate I've been involved with Melber since Carter was in office… Gods, Harrisburg seems like just last month.

As he opened his office door, the machinations of Old Ben's mine lift echoed in the faux-marble cavern that was the south wing of the museum's above-ground structure. The squib was quick to move towards the exhibit, silently hoping to Merlin that he wouldn't be stabbed in the back by those who had descended into the mine. At the same time, MOSAI quickly got a loop of cameras going in his security footage for later use in doctoring what was about to unfold.

When the man cage finally opened its doors the Squib had to doubletake. Somehow, not only were the four who descended a few hours earlier present, but a burly man, an elderly Gremlin, a Frogman, and a hunched over Sasquatch as well.

The museum's eyes twinkled in barely contained mirth at the dumbfounded expression on his manager's face.

"Amazin' what all you can find in the basement Bill, in speakin' a which go ahead n' cancel that ticket maintenance has on the leak… Seems an ornery ol' mole didn't get a highball from upstairs that it was safe to dig."

Ptchyr's cane struck just shy of the tsukomogami's foot, the result of an unexpected shift in the man cage, no doubt caused by TJ. It was then that William recognized the fugitive Gremlin, who now cast an icy glare unto him like many a MACUSA wanted bulletin portrayed him with. However, his raspy voice was something that even the moving photographs of him couldn't do justice.

"You had best not be pulling the wool over my eyes, squib."

Wahun slid himself out of the cage after the others, save TJ, had disembarked. The towering primate stretched, his fingers easily reached the twelve foot mark in the process as several pops from his back echoed in the building..

"Damn straight, I'd hate to be a Wyldworth other than Ozzy himself. In speaking of the bastards, I'll get those field generators up before too many of us start popping up and triggering every Auror in a hundred mile radius from descending on us with extreme prejudice."

John meanwhile winced at his avitar's exposure to sunlight after nearly thirty years. At least his true body was safe from the effects of the sun's ultraviolet rays or any wood-boring insects.

"Can't blame em if what I heard about what they pulled is true… seems Jebediah is hell bent on getting his father's approval from beyond the grave."

TJ remained on the lift back as it slowly went down into the void from whence it came to gather more of the volunteers and equipment from the MGATS station. His voice echoing in the artificial mine shaft.

"Seems though ya got the right Idea though Bill, we got a whole Hornet's nest wantin' to get the ol' gal runnin' on her own eight wheels again! Heh heh!"

Richard nodded silently in agreement, his throat inflating and deflating subtly with each breath. The amphibian quickly typed out an introduction on his mechanical typewriter.

"Seeing as you are now friendly, or at least ambivalent to our presence, I am Richard Creekard, regional head of material resources for MGATS. My compatriots are Wahunsenacawh Onangwatgo, an 18 year old Sasquatch, he prefers to go by Wahun for ease of memory. John Redding, A tsukumogami Bartender and owner of the Electric Catfish under Navy Pier. And the one you're probably most interested in seeing is Ptchyr Eisenwald, Head of the central Division of the Midwestern Gremlin-American Transit System. We're here to get 999 out from that seal and back on the rails where she should be."

Bill simply stared at the Loveland frogman, the horizontal pupils of said creature staring right back up at him, blinking as before with his eyes lowering into his skull before returning.

"...I-I see, Welcome to the The Museum of Science and Industry. 999's exhibit is in the transportation gallery, follow me please."

The party followed along to the main floor of the gallery, the Stuka from before hung as it had when they left, eternally being chased in place by the spitfire that was hung beside it. The gremlin looked the area over and paced it out, the gears in his head moving about as well oiled as they had been when 999 had been in her prime. Ptchyr gave a nod of approval.

"It will be a tight fit to fiddle with her boiler… but if we just might squeeze all we need here without having to pull things out aside from this."

The object in question was a stack of railroad ties in front of the engine that bore information about her as well as a brief history. He gave the small display 'board' a good whack with his cane.

"... We'll keep the ties around though, they're decent enough that we can set heavier components down on them to prevent damaging her and the floor."

William was about to speak up as the elderly craned his neck upward at the engine, positively dwarfed by the mighty, yet unmoving hulk of steel.

"We'll be reimbursing the museum yes, however, wizarding currency will be the only form of payment we can do monetarily. We can offer aid to restore equipment to operational condition if that is desired."

The Manager sighed as more from the Electric Catfish and the Lincoln Park shops joined in on the floor. Some moving large crates off to the side.

"This restoration will take months and there's the speculation all over the board that when the statute falls as to how far Wizarding currency will plummet in value. You and I both know you'll need a machine shop to get this done and..."

"That is why we have the boxes, there are a few heavy lifters also coming this way in the form of ship girls according to U-505, that will hopefully be willing to help us with lifting her boiler off her chassis."



On cue, one of the crates were opened by John to show the interior of a machine shop straight from the turn of the twentieth-century. Massive windows allowed sunlight inside, casting the grids of shadows produced by the glass pane's lattice work. The railfan of the group's eyes widened at the veritable time-capsule he was being invited to enter by the elderly engineer. Above, jackshafts with pulleys and wide leather belts came down to the various lathes, milling machines, shapers, and other machinery in the shop, the scent of old oil, wood, and metal permeated the air.

"There is a lot of work to be done. Assessing the conditions of the engine's boiler, running gear, lubrication pathways, etcetera. We have to get the fire going and raise steam for all of us to work John and Wahun will tend to setting the power hammer up in case we are needing to forge any components on the spot. I've enchanted the shop's boiler to raise steam in thirty minutes instead of two hours, I am still working on how to reduce that to a shorter time with simpler boiler designs, but that is neither here nor there."

Ptchyr lead the group to a large vertical boiler, standing approximately ten feet in diameter with a height of fourty. Next to it was a massive mill engine with a flywheel approximately ten feet high and a pit allowing the rest of the wheel to sit near the ground so the bearings could be accessed by shorter individuals for maintenance.

The elderly fey took took a shovel and placed several scoops of alchemical bituminous coal onto the firebox's grate. A quick motion of his hand along with a brief chant that sounded almost native American was quickly followed by a large flame that caught the set the carboniferous fuel alite. The Gremlin threw a few more shovel-fulls onto the fire before the firebox door was shut.

Unseen inside the boiler, runes began to activate at the sudden rise in temperature, spreading out their thermal energy evenly along the crownsheet to the flues inside. The faint scent of coal burning whisped into the shop to provide the recently arrived Sasquatch engineman a gauge as to how well the fire was burning without opening the door and introducing undue stress on the firebox from cold air. The enchantment on the stack collected unburned carbon into a box adjacent to the boiler for later transmutation into more of the alchemical coal. Trace elements were collected in a sparate box for disposal or recovery. Carbon dioxide was cleaned with a similar charm a potions master would use to clear heavily fuming concoctions. Later, this could be kept for use in no-maj industry.

"Now, that coal will burn for at least five times as long for twice the heat as it's un-enchanted counterparts. That way we can focus at the tasks at hand."

Ptchyr turned his beady gaze to the bespectacled railfan.

"Firstly, we need to get you a crash course in how to take an engine down and put her back together. Ian, please collect Classic American Locomotives by Charles McShane and Machinery's Handbook by Eric Oberg and company, these two books are now yours, care for them with the utmost respect and they shall do the same to you."

The young man reached into the briefcase and shouted, falling flat on his rear and scurrying away when he felt something grab back.

A smug grin on the fey's face followed, only barely able to keep himself from chuckling. Wahun was on the floor laughing as an eight year old boy with jet-black hair, chestnut eyes, and a pair of wire-frame spectacles on his face pulled himself out of the expanded briefcase. Briefly, the boy reached back into the case and pulled a book out. What made the two young men and shipgirl aware that the boy wasn't a human was when he opened the book's pages and produced a black flat cap, which he promptly placed on his head.

"Is that how you say hello now a days to someone?"

The boy's slight scottish accent was clear as he approached the trio and helped Ian to his feet.

"You lads and lady may call me Charles, Eric needs another year or so before he can greet you properly…"

The book waved the other machining book for emphasis.

"That said, I'm going to be a your teacher and instructor for all things pertaining to Steam engines while Ptchyr is working on assessing the old girl's condition. We will be working on small, but nonetheless critical pieces to her functioning."

Ian beamed at the prospect of someone who could finally be near his 'PSI' level of steam enthusiast… only for Craig to slap him upside the head.

"To quote Joshua Piasecki: Focus Motherfucker!"

Yuusa's hand met her face with a clang of steel while the book just tilted his head in curiosity.

"Joshua Paisecki? Is he a new philosopher that's come about since the 1950's?"

A groan came from the U-boat, which only further confused the literary Tsukomogami.

John cleared his throat to direct their attention to him.

"While not as poetic, Craig's got the right Idea, you all have to get working on getting 999 set up for us to work on."

Without missing a beat, Charles opened his true body up to show a black and white photograph of the same engine the mobile shop was currently placed next to.

"Well… 120 years since the record then! She definitely is overdue to gain a body like me, unless they'd prefer a male form which is always entirely possible too."

Ian briefly thought that over and snickered internally at the image of a man from the first decade of the twentieth century looking very confused at the title 'Queen of Speed' being attached to his name. His attention however was once more brought back to the task at hand while all around them were the sounds of machinery coming to life and individuals working towards getting one engine up and running.

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AN: Well, I'm not dead yet. Work has been intense and I've been working on this as well as the broken up sections that this spawned. As I have it planned out, the titular character will be making their debut on the 7th snip, so one more to wait. Also! Happy national Train day... I still need to get caught up on the story and am still on like page 993-994 on the old thread. However given that it is also the 150 anniversary of the Transcontinental railroad's completion, I thought it would be appropriate to add this as well as a video of the festivities, 4014 (A Union Pacific 'Big Boy') has officially taken the title of the world's largest operating steam locomotive and was present there.

 

[Cybershadowninja]

Not going to lie, I kinda wanted to see Hedwig in the last two snippets. I mean after this

Very slowly, one of the SEALs raised his hand, eyes showing disbelief, "Uh, Sir? Permission to speak freely?" Getting a nod, he glanced at Harry, "What the fuck? Is this some sort of joke?"

Click to shrink...

You could've had her make a bad joke and when someone states that Harry could be using ventriloquism or some gadget she turns human.

I also wanted to see military personnel trying to dress Hedwig up in various things.